Mario Kart: Charged
}} Nintendo EPD |publisher=ThermoBurst Nintendo |distributor= |series=Mario Kart (series) |predecessor=''Mario Kart 8 (Deluxe)'' |successor=N/A |released=2019 |genre=Racing |modes=1-4 players (local) 2-8 players (local wireless) 2-12 players (online connection) |ratings= |minimum requirement = }} Mario Kart: Charged is an installment in the Mario Kart series released for the Nintendo Switch. It is the thirteenth installment in the series (ninth excluding side games and remakes). The game introduces a wide assortment of new features to series, most prominently the new Charge Meter, which gives a huge boost to players and upgrades their items. Other new features include the Drill and Jetski mechanics, and new modes such as Adventure Mode. Gameplay Gameplay in Mario Kart: Charged is relatively similar to that of previous installments. New to the franchise are the Drill and Jetski mechanics, activated by running over colored panels. In Drill mode, players get a powerful drill attached to their vehicle that can charge through various obstacles with force. Drills have a time limit, although destroying obstacles prolongs that time. Using the drill, players can find shortcuts, and even ram into other players. Drills are activated by running over a green panel. In Jetski mode, players can quickly run over the surface of water by running over a purple panel. In Jetski mode, Speed is increased, but running into an obstacle will put the vehicle to a full stop and cause them to sink into the water, assuming there is an underwater segment in that area. It is much more difficult to steer in Jetski mode. The Coin system has also been revamped. First off, the maximum amount has increased to 20. Additionally, aside from coins increasing the kart's speed very slightly, having more coins increases the chance of players getting rare items. For instance, first-place players have a higher chance of receiving a Super Horn if they have 20 coins, whereas it is very rare to get one with 0 coins. One of the most prominent features to be added to the game is the Charge Meter. The meter can be filled up by pulling off successful mini-turbos and attacks with items; additionally, the stronger the mini-turbo, the more it is filled. As players raise in rank, the meter fills slower to avoid high-rank players overpowering low-rank players. Once the meter is fully filled, players gain a rainbow aura around them and can release a Special Attack with dynamic effects. This feature can be turned off in the settings if racers desire a less erratic gameplay experience. Purple sparks are now rainbow-colored, like in the Arcade series. Modes Grand Prix In Grand Prix, players can choose one of many cups to race against 11 other players in. Each cup has a total of four courses to race in, and the main goal of Grand Prix is to achieve as many points as possible to get the best prize. The player with the most total points receives a gold trophy, with 2nd and 3rd receiving silver and bronze trophies, respectively. The point spread system is depicted in the table below: Players are rated for their performance in a Grand Prix using a lettering system; from best to worst, players can receive , , , , , , , and . Grand Prix can be played in one of five speed engines: 50cc - Slow speed, with Easy CPUs. Good for beginners. 100cc - Moderate speed, with Medium CPUs. Good for intermediate players. 150cc - Fast speed, with Hard CPUs. Good for advanced players. 150cc Mirror - The same as 150cc, but all tracks are flipped vertically. To unlock this speed engine, players must get first place on every non-DLC cup in 150cc. 200cc - Very fast speed, with expert CPUs. To unlock this speed engine, players must get one star on every non-DLC cup of every speed engine (besides Mirror Mode). Like in Mario Kart 8, Grand Prix can be played in multiplayer mode. However, the results are only determined by first player's performance. Adventure Mode In the brand new Adventure Mode, up to two players can follow a storyline in which a evil deity is corrupting the Mushroom Kingdom, removing the life from racers and using them as mere dolls to play with. Mario and Luigi, who evaded the corruption, must go on a journey to uncorrupt other racers to save the kingdom. Three files are available in case Adventure Mode wants to be replayed. Time Trials Time Trials is a single-player mode in which players race on courses to get the best record possible. Players can create Ghost Data that is saved and can be raced against to strive for an even better record; Staff Ghosts also appear, and are records left behind by staff members of the game. Players can also upload their data to Mario Kart Network to allow players around the world to race against their data. Time Trials can be played in any speed engine aside from 150cc Mirror. VS Race In VS Race, up to four players can race on a variety of courses with settings customized to the player(s)' liking. Gameplay changes such as CPU behavior, items available, and the speed engine can be adjusted before races begin. Only courses unlocked by the player will be available in this mode. Battle Mode In Battle Mode, players can duke it out on a variety of battle stages, also customized to the player(s)' liking. There are a total of 7 different sub-modes, all sporting their own unique gameplay and rules. A new twist to Battle Mode is that up to four teams can be supported in a game, with two new colors ( and ) being available for play. Regardless of how many teams are in the game at once, any combination of the four colors can be used. Alternatively, Battle Mode can be played with no teams. The classic Battle Mode, Balloon Battle is a mode in which players are equipped with four balloons. The objective is to score points by popping other players' balloons; this can be done with items retrieved from Item Boxes. Once a player's balloons are all popped, the player is revived with half of their points lost, and respawn with three balloons rather than four. Balloons cannot be regained without a Mushroom, which can steal a balloon from another player. There are two ways to play Balloon Battle; Standard Mode uses the regular rules, whereas Survival Mode eliminates players the moment they lose all of their balloons. In Survival Mode, after a player is eliminated, they become a "Ghost" that can still collect projectile-based Items to use around the course, although the ghost themselves cannot interact with anything in any form or way. Coin Runners is a mode in which coins are scattered along the course, and the main objective is to simply collect as many as possible. Three Star Coins are also hidden in each course, each worth 10 coins. Racers can use items to cause opponents to drop coins, or can steal coins using a Mushroom. In Bob-omb Blast, players must use Bob-ombs to attack their opponents. A point is gained for each successful attack. Bob-ombs can be stacked; up to 5 can be stacked and thrown at once. Only Bob-ombs can be obtained from Item Boxes in this mode. During Shine Thief, a Shine Sprite appears in the middle of a course that must be held by racers. If the Shine is knocked out of a racer, the timer counting down will receive extra time to prolong the match. Whoever has the Shine at the end of the match wins. Debuting in Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, Renegade Roundup is in the style of a classic cops-and-robbers game; with the new teams being named the "authorities" and "renegades". Authorities must use Potted Piranha Plants to capture Renegades, placing them in prison cells above the course. Renegades can free their allies by pressing switches under the respective cells. The renegade team wins if at least one is still free, and the authorities win if all are captured. This mode cannot be played with three or four teams. The new drill mechanic is the spotlight in Drill Duel, where every player is equipped with a Drill that lasts infinitely. The goal is to destroy as many obstacles as possible using the drill, with players gaining a point with each obstacles. If a player is hit by a Drill, they become immobilized for a second. Obstacles regenerate over time in this mode. One of the two new modes of the game, Light-and-seek straps a Light Box to every vehicle, allowing them to shine light in front of them in the now completely dark stages. Players must shine their lights on other players for prolonged amounts of time to damage them, taking a point away from the opponent which is then gifted to the user. Light Boxes will wear out over time, so Item Boxes (which are much less common in this mode) contain batteries that can recharge the Light Boxes. Like in Balloon Battle, this mode can be played in two ways; Standard Mode uses the normal rules, whereas Survival Mode eliminates players the second they are damaged. Mission Mode Mission Mode has returned from Mario Kart DS, with a very similar structure to its original counterpart. However, Mission Mode is now in the style of an adventure; players must venture through 7 worlds to retrieve a "Power Crystal" that is said to give infinite luck to the racer wielding it. Each world contains 6 missions, with a boss mission. A bonus world is available to players after they complete each mission with a star ranking; players can ranked from , , , and in this mode. Getting a star ranking on every mission, including the bonus missions, unlocks the skin for every racer. Characters Mario Kart: Charged includes a total of 42 characters; 14 are default, 18 must be unlocked, and 10 are DLC-exclusives. In comparison to every previous Mario Kart installment, characters are classified drastically different in Mario Kart: Charged. Players are classified similarly to how they are in the Mario Tennis series, based on their stats as a whole rather than just weight. There are five levels of classification displayed in this game; , , , , and . Due to this new classification system, each character now has their own individual set of stats, allowing each character to differentiate from others. Each classification is listed below: Starter Unlocked DLC Courses Nitro Courses Alpine Village= Alpine Village is the first course of the Mushroom Cup, and the first time the first course of a Mario Kart game has not been a circuit. It takes place in a small town situated on the bottom of a mountain, presumably during Christmas, as the houses are decorated with Christmas lights and snowmen. The course starts out on a snowy road in the middle of the town, and players will later turn through some Item Boxes to go through another road similar to the first. There is a fork in the road; it naturally turns to the left, but the longer right path contains some Item Boxes. Past the road is an icy cave, where players go over a drill panel to break through frozen boulders, which fall through a hole connected to the top of the mountain. Players will leave the cave, going higher up onto the mountain before gliding back down to safety. After this is a wide area with a few snowmen as obstacles; right after is the finish line. |-| Rumble Rumble Rapids= Rumble Rumble Rapids is the second course of the Mushroom Cup, and a jungle-themed level taking players through a jetski ride through a jungle river. The course starts on a dirt road, where players will drive into a small cave and trick off a jetski panel, straight onto the river. An alternate route through the grass exists where players can go under the cave and out a waterfall onto the mainland. On the mainland are several paths seperated by large rocks; the left path contains grass and a Boost Ramp, whereas the tighter right path has a glider panel. Above the mainland are rings that gliding players can run into for a speed boost. Players then turn onto a straight road, before another turn to jump off a Boost Ramp into an anti-gravity segment taking place inside a temple. A very tight, small path exists with a Boost Panel that is hard to go through, but cuts time. Players then turn onto a path out of the temple where they glide into the finish line. |-| Twister Ruins= Twister Ruins is the third course of the Mushroom Cup. It takes place in a desert filled with the remains of a desert temple. The main level's gimmick is that randomly generated tornadoes roam around the course, throwing racers into the air. Racers start in a portion of the temple, and quickly drive out of the temple, out into the desert. After a turn, players will continue through another part of the ruins, driving around a huge quicksand pit. After a sharp 90-degree turn, players advance to an anti-gravity segment on a wall bordering a hill of sand, with pits that slow players down. Players will quickly drive into the actual desert and out of anti-gravity mode for a loop up a hill into a higher portion of the temple, with quicksand pits that suck racers in. Players can then jump off a ramp into the finish line. |-| Broodal Park= Broodal Park is the final course of the Mushroom Cup. As the name suggests, it takes place in a forested park owned by the Broodals. It is a slightly complex course, as the level splits into many paths, all with their strengths and weaknesses for traversing. The level starts with players taking a turn to an area with four different paths. The rightmost path is the shortest and saves the most time, but is very narrow and contains Goombas as obstacles. The grassy path needs a Mushroom to be traversed efficiently, but the combined speed of the Mushroom with the subsequent glider panel allows players to cut a significant amount of time. The middle path is relatively simple, with one or two Goombas; and lastly, the leftmost path takes the most time as it is longer, but contains no obstacles and is relatively wide for easy racing. Players will then traverse through a dirt path down into two paths; they are both relatively the same length, so the side does not particularly matter. They both lead into jetski panels that take players across a lake, running into a glider panel to glide over a smooth turn into the finish line. ---- ---- ---- ---- Retro Courses ---- ---- ---- ---- DLC Courses Battle Stages Credits - For the game's logo. - For the Special Cup logo. Category:KinglerMaster's Creations Category:Racing Games Category:Mario Kart (series) Category:Nintendo Switch Games